It’s ‘Back to Church Sunday’

This Sunday, Sept. 18, is National Back to Church Sunday. The concept was launched two years ago in response to a 2008 LifeWay Research study that found 63 percent of Americans would be open to a friend or neighbor inviting them to church, and 67 percent to a family member.

But despite people’s openness to being invited, only 2 percent of Christians invite a non-churchgoer in a given year, according to LifeWay Research. Back to Church Sunday wants to change that.

Back to Church Sunday was started to encourage Christians to invite people to church and to make newcomers feel welcome. This year, the event falls on this Sunday, Sept. 18, although some churches choose to hold it on other Sundays.

Of course, evangelism is much more than a church invitation; it’s taking the time to patiently listen and caring enough to stick by someone even when they don’t want to go to church. In my own experiences, I’ve watched friends leave church or Christianity altogether because of the judgmental way some Christians had treated them.

And so, as we extend these invitations, we must keep in mind that our friends, family and neighbors may be wary of going back to church and we must respect their experiences. There are times when it is better to listen than to preach. We must invite graciously, without judging or pressuring, while remaining open to talking about their doubts, concerns and struggles.

What about you? What advice and lessons have you learned? How do you invite people to church and share your faith with them?

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9 Comments

Theophile
on September 15, 2011 at 2:56 pm

How about a “Back to God”s Sabbath”, church observance? The problem with Bible study and historical study, is You find out the Bible never moved God’s Sabbath to the opposite end of the week, to the day of the sun god Baal. That happened 300 years after Christ at the council of Laodicea, where man & tradition declared Sunday the new Christian Sabbath. The fate of anyone reading “the Bible” to prove false these kind of heretical teachings, is recorded in Foxes Book of Martyrs.

Meg - Scotland Britain
on September 25, 2011 at 4:03 am

Hi Theophile
Just read your reply to ‘Back to Church Sunday’ and I applaud it fully as a year ago God spiritually opened my eyes to the devil inspired ‘Sunday’ which has deceived millions down through the centuries.
I had to leave the Free Presbyterian Church I attended for years and now worship God in my home each Friday/Saturday sunset.
People would rather believe what their forefathers for generations believed, which are the doctrines of the cursed ‘Westminster Confession of Faith’ written by brutal men rather than God’s Word in Scripture. They refuse to believe that Sunday is not God’s Holy Sabbath because of stubbornness and pride, not understanding that on Sunday, they worship the devil of this world and not God our Creator.
The Seventh Day Adventists are also blindly deceived because although they keep God’s Holy Sabbath, they also tragically follow the ‘Westminster Confession of Faith’ doctrines of men.
Satan has done a stunning work in deceiving this world.
We can but pray for them that God will open their eyes too. May God bless all those who faithfully uphold His Holy seventh day Sabbath and follow God’s sacred doctrines only.

Kind regards to all
Meg (Scotland)

eeza
on September 16, 2011 at 3:44 am

Hi. What Theophile is saying, my same thought goes to that. It doesn’t mention in the Bible exactly when is Sabbath or whether it was moved to Sunday. Although many won’t look at history as evidence because they consider it as propaganda. There is many proofs or evidence that Saturday is the true Sabbath. I am not sure as to why many won’t worship on a Saturday but I went out there and did research. Some might say its in the honor of Jesus’s resurrection or that the Jews were hated because they killed and didn’t believe in Jesus. But Jesus did say that the Sabbath was made for “MAN” and not just for the Jews. We all know that Jesus said He never came here to change the laws but to fulfill it.

If you look in the old testament, in Daniel 7:25 “And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time” (KJV). and if you look at 2 Thessalonians 2:3, 4 and 7 “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;” 4″Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God” 7″For the mystery of iniquity does already work: only he who now lets will let, until he be taken out of the way” So according to Theopile, what he meant by the sun god Baal, GOOGLE the Roman emperor “Constantine”, he was a former sun-worshiper. That’s how it came to be called “SUNday”

According to human understanding, we all know that Sunday is the 1st day of the week. God said in the fourth commandment, “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God…..” So surely we all know that the seventh day is Saturday.

God bless you

commandment keeper
on September 22, 2011 at 5:49 am

One of the main reasons people won’t accept the truth about the Sabbath is that if they even seriously consider the possibility that they are wrong, then a change is required. Pride won’t let most look at the evidence. For if they study the evidence, they may convict themselves. They know their own hearts won’t line up with the information if it be true, so they just ignore or reject it so that they can continue to feel good about them selves. In 1 John the scripture is all about keeping God’s commandments or Law of God. It is about not sinning or breaking God’s commandments. Then here is a text that gives us confidence, if we keep His commandments, then we know we have come to know Him. 1John 3:21 says “Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God.” If many of the Sunday keepers examined the truth in the Bible about God’s Sabbath Day, then they would lose their confidence and they are afraid of that. But greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world. Please consider this issue as it will be the great test in the end. God has a seal, sign or mark. It is His Sabbath. Satan has a mark too. It is his false sabbath, the Sunday.

G/B~~Commandment Keeper

Gordon G.
on September 30, 2011 at 12:09 pm

GOD has revealed through one of HIS modern Prophets (Yes, HE has Prophets today within the Church. See EPHESIANS 4:11-12), that the Anti-Christ will use Sunday as his worship day. During his short reign on Earth, the “7 Noahide Laws” will be in effect, that any Gentile who observes the 7th Day Sabbath will be put to death by be-heading (REVELATION 20:4). Anyone who refuses the Mark of the Beast will be tortured a/o killed. Anyone who uses the Sacred Hebrew Name of GOD (the Son “YAHUSHUA”, Father “YAHWEH”/”YAHUVEH”) will be killed because of “taking the Name of the LORD in vain”. The Sabbath issue is important. It will be a Line of Distinction between GOD’s people and those of the false Jesus (Anti-Christ) during the Great Trib.

Bob
on October 5, 2011 at 10:30 am

I appreciate those who keep Saturday as the Sabbath, but the condemnation of us for which Sunday is the Sabbath seems harsh. I am just a simple-imperfect Christian man, trying to serve God. As Jesus said the Sabbath is for man, not man for the Sabbath and I am also reminded that Jesus told how David took and eat the Bread from the alter and he is called by God, “a man after my own heart”. AW TOZER said something about these types of arguments “these make theologians but not Saints”. Not a perfect quote but close. Let’s be Saints, love ya.

Marc J.
on October 12, 2011 at 1:25 am

David ate bread from the altar out of necessity.

Ronny J. A
on December 16, 2011 at 6:31 am

The issue is rather that are we as Christian free to live according to the flesh or should we live according to the spirit, just like Jesus did? It is something to think about. I know that no man is saved by any other means but Jesus. Jesus tells us in John 14:15 that if we love Him we would keep His commandments. David eating the bread does not mean that the Commandments to keep the Sabbath Holy was abolished then, Jesus declares in Mt 5:17-19 that heaven and earth would be abolished before the commandments were altered. If God is unchanging, then would not the Law who describes His character be unchanging as well? No one condemns you, for you are a free moral agent and you answer to God, but we as your brothers should be able to point a brother towards more wonderful amazing truth about Christ our Savior, right? 🙂 Saints, walk after the spirit, and we would love our Lord by obeying His voice, for we are sheep that knows the voice of our shepperd. God bless too! 😀

Glenn Condrey
on October 16, 2011 at 9:14 pm

Bob, its about WHO YOU WORSHIP/
THAT is why the day you worship is made relevant.
God rested on the SEVENTH DAY and made it Holy. The Catholic Church has taken Sunday and TRIED to make IT holy.
The folly, is that man can make NOTHING holy, only God can do that.
Nowhere else in the 10 Commandments did God have to say REMEMBER…because He foresaw a day in which we WOULD forget to honor the Sabbath Day. God set the Sabbath Day aside for mankind with Adam and Eve…and as such for the rest of us. It is akin as a gift from a husband to his bride. We are to recharge ourselves spiritually in our walk with God on this day and take delight in it.